TNT Sports
Castellani hails Games
By
Published 25/02/2006 at 08:47 GMT
The head of Turin's Olympic organising committee, Valentino Castellani, hailed a successful Winter Games on Saturday, the eve of the closing ceremony. "I'm very satisfied because we've delivered a successful Games," Castellani told Reuters in an interview.
Eurosport
Image credit: TNT Sports
"We've succeeded in giving a strong flavour of Italian style starting with the opening ceremony," he added.
Turin overcame a highly unpromising build-up with sluggish ticket sales, transport woes, budget deficits, raids by tax police on TOROC (organising committee) offices and apparent indifference from the public and the nation's political leaders.
TOROC president Castellani admitted there had been some considerable obstacles to overcome. "The worst (moment) was just after the Games of Athens in the fall of 2004 ... because that was our turn (to be in the spotlight)," he said.
"We had some financial difficulties but we overcame them. Finding 250 million euros ($297.4 million) of national sponsorship was a big result ... I'm very proud of that."
Castellani said the people of Turin had exceeded his expectations with their enthusiasm for the Games, shown by the thousands of revellers gathering in the Piazza Castello every evening for the medals ceremonies and entertainment shows.
He said the Games' slogan "Passion Lives Here" had been proved justified.
REAL PRIDE
Castellani said he felt real pride at the opening ceremony. "The national anthem was sung by a small girl ... I was with the president of the republic (Carlo Azeglio Ciampi) sitting by my side. I saw he was really touched. It was the most touching and emotional moment for me.
"I started feeling more relaxed two days later when we saw the transportation system was working correctly. It was one of the most sensitive points (of our operation)."
Castellani said the so-called doping saga and police raid on the private housing of Austrian team members which dominated the second week of the Games had failed to dent the image of the Turin Olympics.
"It's always sad when you deal with doping issues," he said. "This is a real threat to the values of fair play and fair competition.
"But I felt very positive. It demonstrated that the IOC really has a priority in fighting doping. I don't feel the image of the Games was affected."
IOC dope tests on 10 Austrian cross-country skiers and biathletes all proved negative though the team remain under police investigation after syringes and medical equipment were found.
The success of Italian athletes in sports such as speedskating where Enrico Fabris won two golds and a bronze to become a national idol.
"Our history is not necessarily in ice sports," Castellani said. "This might have, as a consequence, a big number of boys and girls who will practise ice sports."
But he conceded it would take a lot to challenge the domination of soccer in Italian sport. "One of the regrets that I have is that ... the sports world in Italy and in Europe did not leave the stage to the Olympic games in this period," he said.
He urged soccer and other sports not involved to "take a little rest" in future during the Winter Olympics
Advertisement
Advertisement